Robert Webber

Robert Webber
Robert Webber in The Silencers trailer (1966)
Born	Robert L. Webber October 14, 1924 Santa Ana, California, U.S.
Died	May 19, 1989 (aged 64) Malibu, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Lou Gehrig's disease
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1950–1989
Spouse(s)	Miranda "Sammy" Jones (1953–1958) (divorced) Del Mertens (1972–1989) (his death)

Robert L. Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor.

He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the classic 1957 film 12 Angry Men.

Early life

Webber was born in Santa Ana, California, the son of Alice and Robert Webber, who was a merchant seaman.^[1] Webber graduated from Oakland Technical High School,^[2] and served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II,^[3] serving on Guam and Okinawa.

Career

Webber had a 40-year career as a character actor, during which he appeared as Juror No. 12 in 12 Angry Men (1957), as Dudley Moore's gay lyricist in 10 (1979) and Cybill Shepherd's father in the hit series Moonlighting. Other notable turns were in the films The Sandpiper, in which he played a supporting role as Elizabeth Taylor's character's former lover, opposite Richard Burton; The Nun and the Sergeant, in which he played the lead; The Dirty Dozen, where he played a general who disliked a character played by Lee Marvin; one of the many L.A. lowlifes Paul Newman encounters in the anti-hero saga Harper; a hitman in Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia; and a killer in the Dean Martin spy spoof, The Silencers.

Personal life

Webber was married to actress and model Miranda "Sammy" Jones on October 1, 1953, and was divorced in July, 1958. He died from Lou Gehrig's disease at age 64 in Malibu, California, and is survived by his second wife Del Mertens, whom he married on April 23, 1972.

Filmography

Film

• Highway 301 (1950) as William B. Phillips
• 12 Angry Men (1957) as Juror No. 12
• The Nun and the Sergeant (1962) as Sgt. McGrath
• The Stripper (1963) as Ricky Powers
• Hysteria (1965) as Chris Smith
• The Sandpiper (1965) as Ward Hendricks
• The Third Day (1965) as Dom Guardiano
• The Silencers (1966) as Sam Gunther
• Harper (1966) as Dwight Troy
• Tecnica di un omicidio (1966) as Clint Harris
• Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) as Milo Stewart
• The Dirty Dozen (1967) as General Denton
• Don't Make Waves (1967) as Rod Prescott
• Every Man Is My Enemy (1967) as Tony Costa
• Manon 70 (1968) as Ravaggi
• The Big Bounce (1969) as Bob Rodgers
• The Great White Hope (1970) as Dixon
• Macédoine (1971) as Sandeberg
• $ (1971) as Attorney
• Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) as Sappensly
• Flatfoot in Hong Kong (1975) as Sam Accardo
• Soldat Duroc, ça va être ta fête (1975) as Sergeant John Lewis
• Midway (1976) as Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher
• Hit Squad (1976) as Mr. Duglas
• Death Steps in the Dark (1977) as Inspector
• Madame Claude (1977) as Howard
• The Accuser aka L'Imprécateur (1977) as Le cadre américain
• The Choirboys (1977) as Deputy Chief Riggs
• Casey's Shadow (1978) as Mike Marsh
• Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) as Phillip Douvier
• Gardenia (1979) as Caruso
• 10 (1979) as Hugh
• Courage - Let's Run (1979) as Charley
• Tous vedettes (1980) as Harry Stabling
• Private Benjamin (1980) as Col. Clay Thornbush
• Sunday Lovers (1980) as Henry Morrison (segment "The French Method")
• S.O.B. (1981) as Ben Coogan
• Wrong Is Right (1982) as Harvey
• Who Dares Wins (1982) as General Ira Potter
• Wild Geese II (1985) as Robert McCann
• Nuts (1987) as Francis MacMillan

Television and radio

• Starlight Theatre (1950)
• Out There (1951–1952) as Captain Bill Hurley
• Tales of Tomorrow (1952)
• Studio One (1952) as Skeets
• Eye Witness (1953)
• Suspense (1954) as James Forsythe
• Three Steps to Heaven (1953) as Chip Morrison
• Robert Montgomery Presents (1954)
• The Phil Silvers Show (1956) as Ego
• Kraft Television Theatre (1955–1957)
• Playhouse 90 (1958) as Malcolm Field
• The Rifleman (1959) as Wes Carney
• Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (1959) as Andrew Courtney
• Play of the Week (1960)
• Checkmate (1961) as Miles Archer
• The Investigators (1961) as Bert Crayne
• Thriller (1961) as Arthur Henshaw
• The Paradine Case (1962) as Andre Latour
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959–1962) as Paul Brett, Harrison Fell, Edward Gibson
• Stoney Burke (1962) as Roy Hazelton
• The Dick Powell Show (1961–1962) as Captain John Wycliff
• Route 66 (1962) as Frank Bridenbaugh
• The Defenders (1962–1963) as Douglas, MichaelHillyer, Father Phelps,
• Naked City (1963) as Gordon Lanning
• The Greatest Show on Earth (1963) as Rudy
• The Nurses (1963) as Arthur Luskin
• Arrest and Trial (1963) as George Morrison
• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963) as Stuart Landsman
• Ben Casey (1963) as Slim
• The Fugitive (1964) as Harlan Guthrie
• Espionage (1964) as Jack Hanley
• Brenner (1964)
• Mr. Broadway (1964) as Hogan
• The Outer Limits (1964) as Ikar
• Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964–1965) as David Henderson, Robert Burke
• The Rogues (1965) as Guy Gabriel
• The Name of the Game (1968) as William McKendricks
• Journey to the Unknown (1969) as Manservant
• Special Branch (1969) as Mr. Snell
• The Bold Ones: The Lawyers (1969) as Sam Rand
• The Movie Murderer (1970) as Karel Kessler
• The Virginian (1970) as Jackson Reed
• San Francisco International Airport (1970)
• Hauser's Memory (1970) as Dorsey
• The Young Lawyers (1971) as Sergeant Fielder
• Mannix (1971) as Tom Carlson
• The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971) as Commissioner of Oaths
• Thief (1971) as James Calendar
• Cutter (1972) as Meredith
• Banacek (1972) as Jerry Brinkman
• Mission: Impossible (1972) as Charles Rogan
• Love, American Style (1972)
• Banyon (1972)
• Search (1973) as Matthew Linden
• Hawkins (1973) as Carl Vincent
• Hawkins on Murder (1973) as Carl Vincent
• Griff (1973) as Alan Gilbert
• Double Indemnity (1973) as Edward Norton
• The Magician as Zellman
• Tenafly (1973) as Kent
• Kojak (1973) as David Lawrence
• Murder or Mercy (1974) as Dr. Eric Stoneman
• Ironside (1973–1974) as Del Hogan, Burton
• Cannon (1971–1974) as McMillan, Clay Spencer, Barney Shaw
• The Manhunter (1974)
• The Streets of San Francisco (1974) as Al Cooper
• McCloud (1971–1975) as Jack Faraday, Fritz August
• Death Stalk (1975) as Hugh Webster
• Switch (1975) as Paul Sinclair
• S.W.A.T. (1975) as McVea, Mike Simon
• Police Woman (1975) as Julian Lord
• McMillan & Wife (1977) as Charles Meridio
• 79 Park Avenue (1977) as John Hackson DeWitt
• Barnaby Jones (1975–1978) as Maxwell Strager, Gene Gates
• The Young Runaways (1978) as Fred Lockhart
• Kaz (1978)
• The Rockford Files (1975–1979) as Senator Evan Murdock, Bob Coleman, Roman Clementi, Harold Jack Coombs
• Quincy, M.E. (1977–1979) as Dr. John Franklin
• The Streets of L.A. (1979) as Ralph Salkin
• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980) as LaCrosse
• The Two Lives of Carol Letner (1981) as Ed Leemans
• Darkroom (1981) as Greg Conway
• Bret Maverick (1982) as Everest Sinclair
• Not Just Another Affair (1982) as Professor Wally Dawson
• Don't Go to Sleep (1982) as Dr. Cole
• Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983) as Felix Duncan
• Shooting Stars (1983) as Woodrow Norton
• Getting Physical (1984) as Hugh Gibley
• No Man's Land (1984) as Will Blackfield
• Cover Up'' (1984) as Mason Carter
• Half Nelson (1985)
• In Like Flynn (1985) as Colonel Harper
• Assassin (1986) as Calvin Lantz
• The Ladies (1987) as Jerry
• Moonlighting (1986–1988) as Alexander Hayes
• Something Is Out There (1988) as Commissioner Estabrook

References

1. Robert Webber Biography (1924–1989)
2. "Oakland's Tech High is a Rags to Riches Saga". School Historical Archive. Oakland Tribune. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
3. New York Times obituary 20 May 1989

External links

• Robert Webber at the Internet Movie Database
• Robert Webber at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Robert Webber at Find a Grave